Patna: A major controversy has erupted after a private medical college owned by newly elected Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajya Sabha member Ahmad Asfaque Karim published its prospectus showing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of Pakistan on the cover, effectively excluding PoK from the Indian territory.

The "error" was detected after the copies of the prospectus for the 2018-19 academic year were distributed among students of the college located in Katihar, around 300km northeast of Patna. On Sunday, a joint team of the Katihar district police and the civil administration visited the institute and seized the prospectus.

Katihar sadar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Anil Kumar said he quizzed the officials of the college to ascertain the reason behind the goof-up in alleged tampering with the map of the country. "This is a serious issue and legal action will be initiated against the institute's officials," he told The Telegraph over phone. He added that the college manager, when quizzed, claimed that they had already written to the printing press to rectify the mistake.

Earlier, Katihar superintendent of police Vikas Kumar said action would be taken on the basis of the report of the probe team, which the district administration formed soon after the matter came to its notice. "The report is still awaited," he said.